Chapter 31

Monday morning I woke up feeling a sense of anticipation as I was going to see the twins in just three days. I jumped out of bed and got ready to go quickly. I was out the door early, even for me. The parking lot was empty when I arrived at the arena and Rolf was just starting to clean the ice with the Zamboni as I walked in. I quickly got changed and was out on the ice as he was putting Patrick on the far goal.

"Hey Rolf, how's it going?" I asked.

"Getting by Mike, and you?" he responded.

"Pretty good actually," I answered with a grin. "I'm looking forward to a day off on Thursday."

"Aren't we all," he agreed with a laugh.

"Rolf, did you catch Saturday's game on TV?" I asked.

"I did and you played a great game, that goalie sure was lucky," he answered.

"Thanks, but my shooting was just a bit off, with all the bodies going down to block the shots," I told him. "I'm wondering if we could find something to simulate that when I shoot against old Patrick here, maybe a bench or something."

"Let me whip something up for you, maybe a couple of small plastic horses with a net strung between them, or a plastic bench," he mused. "You couldn't keep it in one spot for long or you'll damage the ice, but you'll probably hit it a few times with the puck anyway to knock it around."

"Thanks Rolf, I appreciate anything you can come up with," I told him. "I need to figure a way to simulate game conditions better."

"Alright, I'll have something ready for you for this afternoon's practice or tomorrow morning," Rolf said, before leaving the ice and shutting the big Zamboni doors.

"Thanks Rolf," I replied as I skated away to start my stretches.

After stretching, I had a vigorous warm up skate and then started my shooting practice. I worked on accuracy first, starting closer in to the net and moving out as I became more consistent. I added more power as I moved back to the blueline, until I was shooting at full strength.

Next, I started faking a shot and then moving the puck to one side or the other before shooting, simulating avoiding a sliding opponent's shot block. I worked on that from different points along the blueline, while aiming for the two high corners. The extra movement before shooting definitely screwed up the percentage of shots that went in, as was illustrated by the sounds of pucks hitting the crossbar, posts or Patrick much more frequently.

The rest of the team started trickling out to the ice, forcing me to stop shooting so they could skate around the whole ice. I fished out the pucks from behind Patrick, using the new access door Rolf had put in and went to rest for a bit on the bench. Eventually the coaches joined the team on the ice and Fred called us together.

"Morning men," Fred started. "We had a disappointing weekend against Miami but I wouldn't say we played badly. Their goalie just stole the show and they got the lucky breaks with the goals they scored. So, let's shake those losses off and get ready for the College Hockey Showdown in Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend."

Fred continued, "We all know the Minnesota Gophers are ranked number one in the country right now, so it's not going to be easy. They are loaded with NHL level talent and play a pro style, puck possession type of game. We'll need to work on our forechecking this week to disrupt their passing game."

"On Saturday, we'll fly out early in the morning from Minnesota and head to Wisconsin to play the Badgers, who will have played Michigan State the night before," he added. "We'll be tired but we'll have to play our best to beat them on their home turf. So, we have three days to practice, one day to spend with our families eating turkey, and we fly out early Friday to Minnesota. Be sure you don't miss the bus, we leave here at eight am."

We broke away and started an intense special teams' session before concentrating on a new version of the neutral zone trap to take away the open space against the Gophers. After a spirited full scrimmage, we headed to the locker room and got showered and changed.

I hurried to the main campus and entered the classroom a couple minutes early. Steph was in her usual spot and looked up as I approached.

"Hey Mikey, how was practice?" she asked.

"Good; how did you sleep?" I responded.

"Not too good, I still had bad dreams and woke up in a panic," she admitted.

"I'm sorry to hear that Princess, I wish there was something I could do," I told her.

"You could have let me stay with you last night," she whispered. "I'm sure that would have cured my nightmares real quick."

I just shook my head and got my books out, ignoring her statement. She elbowed me in the side, catching me in the ribs when my arm was raised. I let out a whoosh of air and looked over at her with a frown.

"Princess, that was so not cool," I told her.

"Ignoring me won't make me disappear Michael Stewart, so don't even try," she said, giving me a glare.

"Hitting me or pestering me won't get you anywhere either, so drop it until Wednesday night Stephanie Merks," I growled back at her.

"You are so stubborn," she retorted before crossing her arms below her breasts.

"And you're not?" I blurted out.

"Humph, I have to be or I'd never get anywhere with you," she said. "I can't believe you didn't want me when I took off my sweater."

"Of course I wanted you, I just have a bit more self control than you do," I said with a smirk.

She growled and was going to say something when the professor started his lecture. I just grinned at her and then started taking notes while she muttered under her breath.

The lecture was on new material and the prof went through it quickly. I looked around about half way through the lecture to see puzzled expressions on most of the students' faces. The prof just kept going, filling the boards with equations and information until the bell rang.

"Ok truce," Steph said. "I hope you got all that because I sure didn't."

"I got it and did the questions for the chapter already," I told her. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria if you put a smile on that face and stop being mad at me."

"Fine, but I'm not happy about it," she said, smiling at me for a second before frowning again.

"That looked like a grimace to me," I said.

Steph growled and pushed past me to stomp down the steps and head out the door. I just shook my head and trailed her out of the room. She was half way down the hallway and moving fast. I followed her and exited the building to find her standing with her hands on her hips, waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"I didn't know it was a race Princess," I replied.

"Look, I'm sorry I'm such a bitch right now," she said with a sigh. "I'm not sleeping well and I broke up with Ryan last night."

"Oh Princess, you shouldn't have," I told her as I moved to give her a hug. "You should have waited until we figured everything out."

"I didn't want to have him as a failsafe, we need to make this work," she said, with some determination in her voice and a stronger look on her face. "Don't disappoint me Michael."

"We'll work something out," I said, giving up on my resolution.

She looked at me for a few seconds to see how serious I was and then gave me a smile.

"Ok, Mikey, I believe you," she said. "We better get going to class. I'll see you in an hour."

She strode off, her fast pace making interesting things happen to her tight ass. I watched her until she turned and frowned at me, before pointing the way to my class. I grinned and stood there until she sighed and continued on her way. I quickly headed off to my writing class. I just beat the professor into the classroom and found a seat as she got ready for her lecture.

The lecture was pretty boring, so I just daydreamed a bit, thinking about Wednesday and Thursday with the twins, Steph and Amy. I suspected that the twins had designs upon Steph and probably wanted to include Amy in the mix as well. I just wasn't sure how much I wanted to partake of the other two ladies. It wasn't as if I had gotten tired of the twins that I needed some variety, and I had already done the threesome with them. But on the other hand, a free pass to be with the very attractive women was something I was finding hard to pass up.

I left when the professor was done her lecture and met Steph in the cafeteria after grabbing some food.

"Hey Princess, I said as I sat down across from her.

"Hi Mikey," she said, smiling at me.

"That's what I want to see from my Princess," I responded to her smile.

"You made me so happy when you promised to make it work out," she told me.

"I'm glad you're happy," I said dryly.

"I know you're not convinced this is a good thing, but just wait until after we all sit down and straighten things out in a couple of days," she responded to my lack of enthusiasm. "The twins will never cheat on you with another guy; we just have to convince you of that."

"Fine, I hope you can," I responded as I looked around and lowered my voice. "I wanted to ask you a couple things about Wednesday."

"Ok, what do you want to know?" she asked.

"Are you comfortable doing things with the twins?" I asked, blood rushing to my face.

"You are so cute when you blush Mikey," she said with a grin. "To answer your question, I'm not comfortable with it now but since I've never done it I'm willing to give it a try. I don't think the twins would force me to do something if I hated it."

"Ok, what about Amy?" I asked.

"Amy leans more like Becky than how Vicky and I do," she let me know. "She knows that you are potentially part of the deal with the twins but I can't see you forcing her if she doesn't warm up to you."

"Of course I wouldn't force her. She doesn't have to do a thing with me," I responded. "I just want everyone to get along, be happy with everything and keep things private. As long as all five of us are honest with each other and loyal to the group, then that's all that matters."

"Alright, enough stalling, let's get to our logic assignment," she said, pulling her books up from the seat beside her.

I worked with her until she got the hang of things and she could do the next couple problems by herself. We packed up and went to our own math classes, promising to meet back in the cafeteria afterwards.

After another intense Algebra class, we were back on the Logic assignment while eating snacks. I also worked on my new Algebra assignment and got both done before having to pack up for afternoon practice. Steph got her Logic assignment done and started on her Calculus homework.

"Mikey, don't forget to book a session with the scheduling counsellor for next semester today," Steph reminded me. "I'll see you after practice."

"I'll do that right away," I told her. "I'll pick you up at your dorm lobby after practice so you don't have to walk in the dark. Do you want me to walk you there now?"

She thought about it for a second and then started packing up as she nodded. I helped her gather her stuff and then accompanied her to her dorm building a few minutes away.

"Ok, here you go Princess, I'll see you around six, but wait inside until I come get you," I insisted.

"Alright Mikey, thanks for looking out for me," she said with a smile before heading into the building.

I walked over to the arena and walked to the coach's office. Fred or Frank weren't there so I grabbed a sheet of paper from my book and left a note on Frank's desk. I greeted John in the hallway and we both went into the locker room to get changed.

The coaches worked us hard again, snapping at players when they made mistakes or didn't give enough effort. All three coaches were on the ice and were micro-managing the placement of each position while we were practicing the neutral zone trap. They went over a dozen variations of it depending on how the scout team was coming up. I got chewed out when I wasn't paying attention to the ice while sitting on the bench after a change. I just nodded and kept my mouth shut.

They finally let us go, late by half an hour. I grabbed my phone and called Steph right away.

"Mikey, where are you?" she asked in a huff.

"Sorry Princess, I just got out of practice, I'll be there in about twenty," I told her. "Just stay in the lobby."

"Alright, but you owe me," she said before hanging up.

I got undressed, showered and dressed in record time before heading out to my car. I drove up to the main campus and parked as close as I could to her dorm. I walked quickly to the front door and found her sitting in the lobby talking to a pretty Chinese girl.

"Hey Steph, sorry I'm late," I said, trying to look apologetic.

"Hmm, you're lucky Lin was nice enough to wait with me Mister," she said, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Well thank you Lin for keeping her company," I said, turning to her. "I know it must have been a trying experience to put up with her impatience."

"It was Michael, one would think that you were her boyfriend or something, the way she was acting," Lin responded with a grin. "A personal assistant should be more respectful to her charge."

"Oh, I couldn't agree more," I replied. "Perhaps you would be a more appropriate candidate for the position."

"Real funny, don't either of you give up your day jobs," Steph said dryly. "You, make yourself useful and carry this bag. And you, keep those comments to yourself, I don't need you putting evil thoughts into the empty cavern on top of his shoulders."

"So Lin, how do you know our pint sized dictator?" I asked while taking the bag from Steph.

"I have the pleasure of being her roommate," she replied with a smirk.

"I'm sure the Nobel Prize committee will be in contact shortly," I told her sympathetically.

She laughed out loud as Steph stomped her foot.

"If you two are done with your feeble attempt at humour, I think it's time to go," Steph said. "I'll deal with you later, you traitor; and you, let's go before you start eating the furniture."

"It was nice to meet you Lin, though I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances," I said, shaking my head.

"I was nice to meet you too Michael, I'm sorry you have to spend more time with her tonight, but I will take advantage of the silence," she responded with a grin.

Steph grabbed my hand and blew a strawberry at Lin before dragging me to the door. I waved to Lin over my shoulder and she waved back with a smile before turning back to the elevator. We left the building and headed to my car.

"So, Lin seems nice," I said. "Is she a good roommate?"

"Yes she is," Steph replied. "She's been very supportive since that guy attacked me. She holds me after the nightmares until I'm calmed down. She's quiet but still friendly and she can be a real sweetheart."

"That's nice of her to comfort you, and you forgot to mention she is real funny," I added.

I opened the back door and put the bag I was carrying in, stepped aside to let Steph put in her book bag and the gym bag in and then shut it. We got in and drove home and I slung my book bag over my shoulder before grabbing her two extra bags and leading her down with just her book bag to carry. I put the two bags on the table and then we both put our book bags over on the desk.

"So, my cute PA, what's on the agenda this evening?" I asked with a smile.

"I will cook us supper while you gather up your laundry so I can get that going," she started. "Then you can do some studying while I do the dishes and clean this apartment."

"Wow, you don't have to do all that tonight Steph, I'm sure you have some studying to do as well," I responded. "I'll get my laundry started while you cook, then we'll both do the dishes and do a quick tidy on the apartment. Then we'll both study. Don't worry, I'll make sure you get paid for doing it all, but I'm going to help."

She marched up close to me and pulled me down so our faces were very close. She looked angry for a couple of seconds and then surprised me by smiling and giving me a nice kiss as she wrapped her arms around my neck. She forced her tongue into my mouth as she moved her body to touch hers. I went along with the kiss as I held her by her shoulders. Steph finally broke away the kiss and took a deep breath.

"Wow, what brought that on Princess?" I asked, taking a big breath as well.

"Some guys would be taking advantage of having a personal assistant and have her do everything, but you are always thinking of others," she said, looking up at me with a beaming smile. "I just wanted to reward you."

"You can reward me like that any time Princess," I told her.

"Ok, I'll be taking you up on that," she warned with a grin. "Ok, let's get busy here. Put my gym bag in the bedroom, we don't need that in here. I'll get started on supper."

"Yes Ma'am," I said with a salute as I carried the bag into the bedroom.

I grabbed my laundry bin and went around the apartment collecting dirty clothes, towels, dishrags and such and then went down the hall to start up a load in the washer. Steph was busy in the kitchen slicing up some beef into my big frying pan, so I started tidying up the place.

She came and found me in the washroom wiping down the countertop after straightening up everything. She was carrying a make-up bag in her hand and, after hip checking me aside for a second, put it into the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and walked out, smiling at my bewildered expression.

I finished quickly and went out to the bedroom to find her squishing the contents of one of my drawers into another. Steph then took some clothes out of the bag and put them in the empty drawer. After about three trips from the bag on the bed, the drawer was full. She closed it and pulled out a couple pair of jeans and blouses out of the bag by the hooks of their hangers before moving to my closet. She moved my stuff to one side and hung her stuff up and then, after patting me on the chest and smiling up at me, went back to the kitchen to continue making supper.

I followed her in a daze and asked, "Um, what just happened back there Steph?"

"I just brought some stuff over in case I need to change clothes and get cleaned up," she said, looking over her shoulder.

"Oh, I guess that's ok, but you could have asked," I replied.

"I didn't think you would mind me getting freshened up after getting dirty here," she said. "It's just easier not to have to carry the gym bag every night."

"Hmmm, I'm thinking you're pulling a fast one on me Princess, but I won't make a big deal about it," I told her. "Do you need some help with supper?"

"Nope, I'm good," she replied, turning back to the stove.

I went and switched the laundry around and came back to find the table set for two and Steph dishing out a stir fry over a bed of rice on each plate.

"That looks real good Steph, thanks for cooking," I said with a smile.

"You're welcome Mikey, I like cooking for you," she replied as she put the frying pan back on the stove.

She took off her apron, hung it on a hook beside the fridge, and sat down at the other place setting. We both dug in with gusto as it was now well past seven o'clock. I did try and pace myself so I didn't look like a slob but still finished before she was half done.

"Let me get you some more Mikey, it looks like you enjoyed it," she said, getting up.

"It was very delicious," I complimented her. "You're a good cook."

"Thanks, my mom taught me and I had to cook a lot for the rest of the kids while the rents worked," she replied as she spooned out rice on my plate.

"Do you miss them?" I asked, moving a bit back to let her ladle out the stir-fry on top of the rice.

"A bit, but I enjoy only having to look out for two people now," she answered.

I thanked her and topped up our glasses of milk as she sat down. I started on the second helping while she continued with hers until we both finished about the same time.

"Well that was a very good meal Princess," I stated. "Thank you very much for cooking."

"You are very welcome Mikey," she said with a big smile on her face.

I got up and started clearing the table while she put the leftovers onto a plate and covered them with plastic wrap. I moved to the sink and started washing while she wiped up the table, countertop and stove. We were done with the clean-up ten minutes later and decided to hit the books right away before relaxing.

After about an hour of studying Steph went into the bedroom and I heard her in the drawers for a minute before the door to the bathroom closed. I continued to pour over the algebra textbook until she came out and sat down again. Looking up, I saw she had changed into a crop top and snug sweat pants. She caught my look and smiled.

"I had to change out of my jeans," she said. "They get a little tight after supper."

"Aren't you going to get cold in that top?" I asked.

The top in question was a spaghetti strapped light blue cotton shirt that showed off her cleavage nicely and extended down a couple inches below her chest, leaving her shoulders, arms and most of her midriff bare. She looked very sexy in it.

"I was a little hot in my other one, so I wanted to cool off for a bit," she said innocently. "I'm sure I'll need to cover up in a bit, but for now I'm just right."

"Well if you're ok with it then who am I to argue?" I asked with a grin. "You do look good in it Princess."

She smiled at my compliment and put her head down to continue studying. I looked at her for a bit longer until she glanced up and saw me staring. I blushed when she caught me and she grinned for a second before pointing to my books and frowning. I grinned and then went back to my work.

We studied for about another hour before I decided to pack it in. She looked up from her work as I started putting away my books.

"Had enough Mikey?" she asked.

"Yep, I'm ahead by about two chapters now, so I can take it easy," I told her. "How about you?"

"I'm just about done my Calculus assignment for next week, so I'm going finish it up before calling it a night," she replied.

"Ok, I'll leave you to it, while I get the laundry out of the dryer," I told her.

I grabbed my basket and got the clothes out of the dryer and put the last load into it from the washer. I turned it on and went back into the apartment, heading to the bedroom to fold and put it away. Steph came in while I was just finishing up and sat down on the bed.

"All done?" I asked.

"Finally," she replied. "I hate homework!"

"Don't we all," I agreed. "So, shall we get you back to the dorm?"

"Nope, I'm going to sleep here tonight," she said with a smile.

"We agreed to wait until Wednesday to figure this all out Steph," I said with a frown.

"Just because I'm sleeping with you, doesn't mean we have to have sex Michael," she replied. "I just want to be close to you; maybe I can sleep through the night for once."

"And I'll probably not get a wink of sleep all night," I responded with a grimace.

"Would sleeping in the same bed with me disgust you so much?" she said, reacting to my face.

"No silly, I'll be fighting with myself all night not to attack you," I said exasperated. "How could you think I would be disgusted with you Princess?"

"Oh. Well, that's nice to hear," she replied with an embarrassed look on her face. "You don't have to fight too hard on my account; I'll be ok with you not being able to control yourself."

"You're like that damn energizer bunny; you're relentless," I said, shaking my head as I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I took my time brushing my teeth and using the toilet. I knew I would weaken if she pushed much farther tonight. The top she was wearing showed off her perfect little body oh so well, and the pants showed off her fantastic ass. I got hard just thinking about having her in the same bed with me and I knew she wouldn't just be lying on the far side of the bed either. The little temptress would be cuddling up right against me for sure.

I laughed to myself thinking how stupid I was acting. A hot young gorgeous woman was going to be sleeping in my bed, and my girlfriends were not only aware of it, they were promoting it. I decided to go with the flow or turn in my man card at the next meeting. I washed up and headed out to face the bunny.

She was sitting on the bed waiting for me to get out. She smiled and went in with some clothes in her hand and shut the door behind her. I quickly got into an old tee shirt and shorts and got into bed after checking that the apartment door was locked. I turned on a hockey game while I waited for Steph to come out.

Fifteen minutes later I heard the door open and glanced over at her as she entered the room. She put her clothes that she was wearing onto the chair and slipped into the opposite side of the bed as I stared. She pulled the covers over her legs as she sat like I did, leaning against the back wall. She looked up at me and smiled before reaching over and pushed my jaw back up to stop the flies from getting in.

"I take it from your look of shock that you like my sleepwear Mikey?" she said with a smirk.

I nodded as I continued to stare. Steph had put on another spaghetti strap short lacy chemise on top that covered even less than her top she had on earlier. The matching boy pant underwear she wore hugged her scrumptious ass and I finally got to see how really beautiful her body was. The blood in my body went south quickly but luckily I was covered by the blankets.

"We thought you would like it," she told me with a wicked grin. "The girls sent it to me from New York, along with a few more nice outfits."

"You're all conspiring against me, aren't you," I said, shaking my head. "I never had a chance did I?"

"Not really Mikey," she said, patting my hand. "We usually get our way; even stubborn men like you can't last too long."

She grabbed the remote from my hand and shut off the television and placed it on the night table on her side. She shut off her light and moved back close to me, laying her head on the middle pillow.

"Are you going to sit there all night?" she asked, looking up at me.

I shut my light off and scooted down to lie on my back. She immediately moved closer, pasting herself to me with her arm across my chest. She gave me a kiss on the side of my mouth as she got comfortable and then sighed.

"I've been fantasizing about this for months, Michael," she said softly. "Thank you for making my dreams come true."

"You're welcome Princess," I replied. "I must admit you've been in my fantasies as well, so this is nice for me as well. You feel and smell wonderful."

I could feel her smile against my shoulder and she hugged me tighter. We lay there for a while, just basking in each other's warmth. It felt good to have someone to sleep with again; I missed sleeping with Vicky every night.

"Aren't you hot in this tee shirt Mikey," she asked, pulling it up from my stomach.

"I guess, but everything else stays on missy," I told her as I helped her get it off me.

We had to sit up so I could take it off. She helped me get it over my head and then lay more on top of me once I was on my back again. Her skin felt so good against mine I had to put my hands on her and moved them to caress her back.

"Princess, you feel fantastic," I said with feeling. "You're soft and silky on the outside but so firm and muscular underneath."

"Thanks Mikey," she said. "I'm glad you like my body so much, I was hoping you would. I love how you look at me all the time, and now you can touch me anytime you want."

"Hmmm, that sounds pretty good right now," I replied. "I need to check something out."

My hands slipped down her back and stopped right on her ass. I caressed it lightly through her underwear and then squeezed her cheeks. She clenched them and showed me how hard and tight they could get before letting them loose for me to massage. She ground her pelvis into my hips and moved her one leg more onto my body.

"Your butt is world class Princess," I told her.

She giggled and clenched it again, capturing my fingers in her cheeks for a few seconds before releasing them. I moved my hands down and caressed the back and sides of her legs. While I was doing that, Steph started caressing my chest and stomach with one hand as she turned my head so she could kiss me. She soon had us in a passionate kiss, twirling tongues as our hands roamed on each other's bodies.

I finally had to break away from her kiss and say, "Ok Princess, let's not get too carried away here."

"How did I know you would do this?" she said, shaking her head.

"You know me too well," I replied with a grin. "Let's save the good stuff for Wednesday, shall we?"

"Fine, but I'm staying right here," she said in a huff.

"How about you lie on your side and I spoon behind you?" I suggested.

"Hmmm, that sounds nice too," Steph replied as she slide off me, turned over and ground her butt into my side.